Batya Ungar-Sargon defies easy categorization. A lifelong leftist, she was won over by Donald Trump's appeals to the working class and voted for him in 2024. The former Newsweek deputy opinion editor now calls herself a “MAGA leftist.” 

Ungar-Sargon hosts a weekly show on NewsNation and is a fixture on cable news. Her new book, "The Jews and the Left," traces the history of Jewish allegiance to the Democratic Party – and how Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel became a reckoning for many Jews who felt their party had abandoned them.

I recently spoke with her about the book, growing anti-Israel sentiment on the left and her frustration with Trump's handling of the economy. Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why did you write this book now? 

One of the questions I get asked most when I travel around the country is: Why are Jews Democrats? Especially from Republicans, conservatives and Christians who feel like they're on the side of the Jews........

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